When state lawmakers passed Georgia’s tough new immigration enforcement legislation this year, they blamed the federal government for not doing enough to curb illegal immigration.

But the success of that new law will depend at least in part on – you guessed it — the federal government.

That’s because federal authorities control deportations. Citing a shortage of manpower and prison beds, those federal immigration officials say they can’t seek to deport all suspected illegal immigrants and instead are focusing on kicking the most violent out of the country.

Atlanta area police are now seeking to temper expectations for Georgia’s House Bill 87, which is scheduled to take effect on July 1.

“Unless they are willing to take them, we don’t have the authority to do anything with them,” Sandy Springs Police Chief Terry Sult said. “We just can’t perpetually hold them.”

In Wednesday’s newspaper, the AJC takes a deep look at how local and state police are preparing to train for and enforce Georgia’s new immigration law.